Association Between In-Training Exam Scores and Clinical Exposure During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Pediatric Residency Training
• COVID-19 Impact on Healthcare

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted medical training environments.
• Concerns arose regarding the impact of altered clinical experiences on resident education and assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate changes in pediatric residents' In-Training Examination (ITE) scores during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To investigate the association between clinical work volume and ITE score progression.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of ITE score changes across three pediatric resident cohorts based on COVID-19 exposure.
• Correlation of ITE score changes with patient encounter data and inpatient notes.

Main Results:

• Pediatric residents fully exposed to the pandemic showed minimal average ITE score improvement from PGY1 to PGY2.
• No significant association was found between total patient encounters and ITE score changes.
• A minor but significant link was observed between ITE score change and the number of inpatient History & Physical (H+P) notes.

Conclusions:

• Pediatric residents entering residency during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced a stagnation in ITE score gains.
• The observed decline in ITE score improvement was largely independent of changes in clinical encounter volume.